Malenia, Blade of Miquella Lore | The Legend of the Scarlet Rot | Elden Ring 

Hot take but Radahn was the true winner of their battle. Edit (3/19): Just to clarify in the video since I think a lot of people got confused since I failed to have explained it well enough, when Malenia bloomed the Scarlet Aeonia against us, this was the Second Time she bloomed, she wasn't a true goddess yet, she was approaching Godhood. She needed to bloom one more time. In the ending part as well, if you betray Milicent, she blooms into the flower, and drops an item that says that this is her "true" form and that she will bloom into a Scarlet Valkyrie after some time. This might also happen with Malenia and might be her 3rd bloom. (theory) I hope that clarifies it better, I'll be sure to better clarify these vague stuff in future videos. Also, apologies for the slight popping in the audio, I couldn't figure out what was causing it even after re-recording. Will do better next video.

"While Radahn was conquering the stars, I was studying the blade"

Just mentally thinking about how far the walk from Radahn’s boss arena all the way to the Haligtree actually is, Finley is a legend

Malenia: "Im never known defeat." Player: "Me too. I will just keep respawning."

People would say “malenia won” or Radahn won” but I dont think anybody won, like Ranni says. Like really, both armies failed to claim victory, and nothing came of their battle except the strongest of both armies basically getting fucked from it. There was nothing achieved from all that fighting except despair and death. Rather than a winner everyone loses

6:53 I think it’s the second time the flower blooms. The first time was probably a childhood incident, in which Malenia lost her arm. You can find that flower in the room next to Malenia’s boss room at the root of the haligtree. The scarlet aeonia item description says whenever this flower blooms, Malenia’s rot advances, and when it blooms the third time, she will become a true goddess. The third time would be her fighting the player. That explains why her title in the second phase is “Malenia, Goddess of Rot”.

The fact that none of the strongest beings we've fought in Elden Ring were at their true potential when we faced them, makes me wonder what future expansions and games could possibly have for us. As unlikely as it is to happen, the thought of clashing with a sane Radahn or a fully manifested rot goddess Malenia, sends shivers down my spine.

"The sheer, unimaginable skill of the tarnished destined to become Elden Lord." You mean the sheer, unimaginable stubbornness, right?

It's really just perfect that the words "The Tarnished will not be overturned-" is followed immediately by a death montage. Really just perfectly arranged.

Miquella creating a whole new material to marginally combat scarlet rot and I'm just over here with some fire giant spell that completely cures it in 4 seconds for 8FP.

Two important details to add: 1) When Radahn seized the Stars he sealed the fate of many people, principally Caria, Ranni and Miquella. While less emphasized in lore compared to the former two Miquella’s Haligtree is described as needing an Eclipse to grow which at least occurred before The Shattering until it grew to the size of a tree. Any further growth became impossible due to Radahn and thus forced Malenia and her Cleanrot Knights to clash in Caelid if Miquella’s plan was to succeed 2) Mohg seemingly kidnapped Miquella sometime between Malenia going off to fight Radahn and getting carried back to Elphael by Finlay. Since she was in a coma this whole time she has no knowledge of Mohg’s plot nor his intention to raise Miquella to “true godhood”

Maybe the Entity of Scarlet Rot is doing the same as the Elden Beast and The Greater Will. Searching for a host who in this case can bloom a couple of times to inherite the power of this Outer God just like Marika and the Elden Ring.

2:08 It feels like GRRM wrote Malenia's master, he reminds me of Syrio Forel with their fighting styles evocative of flowing water, and both of them teaching girls to fight.

"The Cleanrot Knights were undefeated in the Shattering." Radahn dragging 3 of their corpses: "What was that?"

"The sheer, unimaginable skill of the tarnished destined to become Elden Lord." *shows footage of tarnished getting one shotted by Melania over and over

"I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella. And I have never known defeat." After watching her nuke Caelid with Scarlet Rot & my experience fighting her, the above quote felt even sharper than her sword.

I hope there will be a DLC that elaborates on the stories of Malenia and Radahn. They are such rich and deep characters.

Maybe when an empyrean is born, their very being is linked to an outer god, that's why the two fingers beings get assigned to an empyrean, so they can hinder that link to outer gods other than the Greater Will, that's why Ranni makes sure to kill her assigned two fingers and get rid of her body, so that she can get create a new order without all who came before. Miquella doesn't seem to have an assigned two fingers, Mohg took him and the formless mother is influencing the world through him with Mohg's help, maybe that's why he never grows, an "eternal son to a formless mother", that's the curse of a forceful link from an outer god, similarly Melania got linked to the outer god of rot, with her despair leaving her weak to that elder god's influence, blooming her, rebirthing her into something else, like Millicent mentioned.

i always like the sort of contrast that comes from melania and the player character. She is undefeated and will give up even her pride and body to stay that way, whereas the tarnished of no renown is possibly the most defeated being there is. Ultimately one has to accept that defeat is an ultimate part in the cycle of life and by the end of the fight it feels like an epic moment of humbling as you show her the power of losing.

I love that, even with her being naked in her Scarlet Aeonian form, they chose to give her a realistic body type for an athlete/warrior. Malenia's second phase reminds me of classical art in the way it uses both her form and the blooming butterflies to represent beauty, rather than it focusing solely on her nudity. The latter half of her fight is a marvel of artistic game design.

The tarnished is more than a match for Melania. *shows footage of tarnished getting wrecked* That was a nice touch 😆. Took me three sessions to take her down 💀

Melenia “I have now become a true god, now you will lose” Tarnished “lady I already killed one god what’s a second”

I love how in the segment where he talks about how the Tarnished just wiped the floor with her while showing the Tarnished dying over and over. Great gag

Radahn: You’re good melania, the strongest I’ve fought so far. Melania: IM NOT LOSING TO YOUUUUUUUU!!!!! *fucking nukes caelid*

i love how at 12:48, Arlun was basically praising the Tarnished on how they defeated Malenia, the clip shows multiple "You Died" moments :)))))

“The knights who follow her would be the most fearsome in the lands.” Crucible Knights: bet

Really well done summary of Malenia! Nice work! That bit at the end is very striking, and makes me remember a part of her lore that mentions "If she blooms the third time, she'll ascend as a goddess". The scarlet flower she leaves after her defeat could be the third blooming, and she may only lay dormant in the center of it. Too bad we won't ever see what comes of it except if a sequel happens. But anyways, nice work!

My favorite boss in the game just love her design and lore.

I wonder if the rot sickness appearance in the Lands Between was a consequence of removing the Death Rune from the Elden Ring, so it can spread endlessly, corrupting everything and everyone.. Also, might this sealed outer god be the same as the Fire Giant followed? Looks like Radagon got a curse from him, if you read Giant's Red Braid item description... "Radagon was said to have despised his own red locks. Perhaps that was a curse of their kind.". This curse might come to pass to his offspring. IDK

Another cool aspect of this game that the other games other than maybe sekiro is the game acknowledges that you are a super bad ass warrior at a practically unstoppable March towards the end of the game. Sure in souls and bloodborne you get to that level of badassery but you don't have npcs saying you're scary or stating that your strong or even the bosses acknowledging your progress. Just a cool detail that helps convey that your character too is a legendary fighter able to stand toe-to-toe with the other greats.

I absolutely love Malenia's lore so this was a treat. Thank you

The death compilation while hyping up the tarnished was elite lol

Just awesome video man, with a great gut punch realization at the closing line

Malenia and Radahn are so incredible : -both training (one to gain strength and master gravity magic while the other training so she would never bow before the scarlet rot within her, studying the blade and refusing to use her power) -both two of the most admired demigods (The cleanrot knights following Malenia even if it means succumb to the rot while Radahn's knights organising the Radahn's festival, determined to give Radahn a death fitting his warrior self) -Both bullying Godrick I do like to imagine children arguing about wich one of these two they would serve (Radahn maybe suffering from his scarry and threatening appearence and Malenia forced to curse her companions) Radagon's genes are truly something...

Fantastic video. I love the lore of this game and you do a great job explaining it. You deserve more subs.

Enjoying these so much. Please keep them coming!

Malenia is the only boss to not have a "_____ Felled" screen upon defeat, so perhaps she remains undefeated still...

The fact General Radahn was still holding the stars back even while in a state of madness speaks volumes. Malenia is cold but the prosthetics didn't hinder her for those saying it did. Her holding the Scarlett rot at bay is a feat in it self though but In the end she went all out and Radahn didn't he continued to hold back the stars even after being infected with rot to me clearly Radahn won or would've won.

Mate I’m absolutely loving these videos, keep up the great work 👍

Man I love your content so much. Such high quality!! Please keep it up. We need a video for all the main characters, and of the nice npc that we encounter. Maybe a video on the races of the lands between? Particularly on the Albinaurics? Or the Numen? Ps.: I laughed so hard on the “very skilled tarnished who would be more than a match for Malenia” lmao

Prove me wrong but she's definitely not dead right? She's also destined to bloom once more

When Melania wakes up when we get to her is she literlaly waking up form her battle with Radahn? Did she go from one godly fight right to the next (in her view)? Pretty crazy from her pov lol.

Getting the lore like this gets me more into the game. TY.

Love the video ! I love the lore of elden ring and this video is so well made, keep up the good work !

Considering the scarlet rot is a cycle, what if when the tarnished returns after a very long time to the Haligtree Roots, Malenia was reborn into a true goddess of rot and youd have to face her again?

There is also the flower that bloomed in the room before the Melania fight where you find Millicen't armor; I wonder what the significance of it is

The Malenia fight montage you had during the voiceover at 13 minutes was great XD

The indomitable tarnished monologue over the death montage is 👌 perfect in every way

All that tarnish hype talk while malenia dog walks him 50x times in the background is mad funny

So, I was looking to see what text pops up when you defeat Malenia to settle the debate whether she is a goddes or not and whether she's bloomed a 3rd time. One of the most interesting thing FromSoft does when you defeat a boss is change the text depending on the power of that boss. When you defeat most bosses you get something along the lines of Legend Felled, Foe Vanquished or the like. When you defeat the Elden Beast, you get God Slain, but looking back defeating a Rune Bearer bares no text at all.... I think this is something done purposely and has some meaning.

i think malenia's rot when it blooms definitely is beautiful

I haven't watched the video yet. I just want to say Thank you for the detailed spoiler warning at the beginning of the video. I had beaten Malenia, but hadn't completed the game. I appreciate the warning and the content, so I gave you a like and a sub. I hope your channel continues to grow and flourish.

Very nice video! One question, do you know what the scarlet bloom left from the grace in the Haligtree roots is? That's seems like the second blooming of Malenia maybe? I think it is said that at her third bloom, Malenia would become a true god.

My story can be summarized in a few words: I am Malenia, Blade of Miquella.

I have to say this was a sick video. The parts with radhan and malenia were sick

Love these videos you got a new subscriber!!!

Now we make DLC Boss Born by Defeat her. // imagine if her and Miquella can combine identity to together like Marika & Radagon do . . .

The Dung Eater will come for me?! Dont threaten me with a good time!

Please! Make more of those videos! And thank you 👍🏻!

My favorite part is while he praises the tarneshed he shows them dying multiple times durring the fight XD

these two are my favorite Elden Ring characters *By far* above both Ranni and General Radahn.

I think that, same as Millicent's father knew it should be us to kill her in order to turn in that amber aeonia, malenia knew if radahn to kill her, she would immediately turn into amber. I believe that after amber form she's guaranteed to become a rot goddess, which she didn't want to. That's why she chose to deal with radahn in manner she did. And if she blooms herself, she has two more times before it happens. So now, after malenia awakens, she's full fledged goddess. Millicent awakens with her, and, as her "daughter", being born from single god, she's empirion now. So rot worshippers establish rot supremacy - they have their own goddess and they also replace marika with scarlet valkery. That's what i believe plan was

U are still one of the best story tellers i ever watched

wonderful video and narration.. i like it

Mohgs palace was under caelid made me think she was trying to rescue her brother when she encounted radahn

Can’t wait for The Shattering DLC! I really want to take on Radahn in his prime

great video, love it

love your lore videos

"the undefeated" sure bud whatever you have to tell yourself.

I think the Scarlet Rot was brought out from Malenia, if it was around before her then Dragonlord Placudisax would have been immune to the Rot, but he’s extremely susceptible to it, unlike the Elden Beast who is immune to it

Love those Lore videos. Its realy hard to learn it from the game.

watched all the elden ring vids thx man

She was affected by the rot all the time and yet was still undefeated. She must of been all powerful

Millicent blooms if you betray her. Malenia blooms as well when you defeat her. There is another scarlet Aeonia near the Site of Grace before Malenia's arena...would that be someone I know nothing about? Someone I missed in the lore?

The Blue Dancer charm isn't talking about Melania. But rather the blind swordsman who trained her. He was once given his sword (Flowing Curved Sword) by a fairy and used it to seal the Rot God. Later, he trained Melania (Prosthesis Wearers Heirloom), likely because the Rot was attempting to manifest through her. Sadly, his efforts were for naught, because Melania succumbed to fear and mostly particularly pride. Choosing to embrace the Rot rather than lose a battle as a noble champion.

"The sheer, unimaginable skill of the tarnished destined to become Elden Lord." ; Cuts to a montage of me rolling off of cliffs, getting eaten alive by rats, forgetting my bow is equipped while trying to swing my sword, all while screaming "jesus h christ I am so fucking scared right now".

Hold the phone, so you are saying that since scarlet rot is a cycle of decay and rebirth, Malenia is gonna bloom again into a stronger boss? No way man, im not fighting Malenia with 2 swords

Hold up, those statues in the cloister are also present in the mohg area, but are they part of the ancient civilization or built in worship after it's fall? What's bothersome about the apparent obviousness is the slab that they hold resembles the fingerprint shield and its.... Well, fingerprints.

holy heck, I had no idea there was an epic fight between Malenia and Radahn! that's so cool. 😮

Radahn in my opinion has some of the most unique lore along with melania I just wish they gave him more air time. He would've Been a amazing end game boss... especially at full strength. He was tough as is but imagine him with out the scarlet rot poisoning.. he was legit a fraction of himself

I like the theory that us defeating Malenia might be a terrible mistake on our part, basically causing her to bloom and unleash the rot within herself into the world. As Fromsoft has often made killing "Optional" bosses/characters in their games to be narratively evil/bad choices at times. So from a roleplay/story perspective, it might just be best to leave her alone. UNLESS, after defeating her and then sticking the now purified needle into the flower left behind is the way to actually cure/stop the spread of the rot in the world. Honestly, the game/lore is confusing AF at times. Like do the demi-gods actually stay dead, or will they just return to life eventually? Because they keep mentioning rebirth and explicitly state that everyone in the Lands Between can't truly die, but then nobody seems to ever actually do so in-game (from what we ever witness). So like either the lore is purposefully contradicting itself and we have to form our own personal lore/continuity, or maybe the idea is that in a future DLC (maybe post-game after we become Elden Lord) everyone is reborn and we get to do battle with certain characters again. Personally, I think that IF everyone ingame is semi-immortal and will be reborn (so long as you don't choose like Frenzied Flame, DungEater, or Death as the endings) then this whole questline with Millicent and Malenia might have been intended to like have you kill her, purify her flower/remains, and then when she is eventually reborn she'll be no longer afflicted by the Scarlet Rot. Again, I dunno. Hard to sort this all out and we gotta probably wait a few more months or a year to see any DLC or additional content updates to add more (hopefully).

What do you think is the “canonical” ending of the game? I feel it’s where the tarnished gets all remembrances and completes most if not all side quests. Including getting the mark from the 3 fingers, getting the perfected needle which causes the tarnished to find the dragon lord and remove the mark and finally putting the rune of death back on the elden ring, making it whole again. And a sequel could be about the remaining gods, which I think are the scarlet rot, the god the 3 fingers follow, the serpent and whatever Fia brings back alive. Possibly whatever god the giants were also following. Because we prove at the end of the game that we have the power to defeat a god.

"I have never known defeat" Some random guy with no clothes and a torch: "Oh really?"

sheer unimaginable skill or the mimic tear kek

Dex/faith malenia vs str/int radahn

I want the lore about Radahn's horse

The whole montage of her just destroying the tarnished while you’re narrating “her defeat” hilarious.

love the vids

You said the biggest battle of the shattering was the one fought in Caelid but I thought the biggest one was the one on mount Gelmir, or at least I remember reading it on some items.

Malenia: I have never known defeat. Redahn: i mean, thats a bit questionable...

Through the great skill of the greatest tarnished ever known LOL as Melania is constantly kicking his ass over and over again

AHHHH THANK YOU FOR THESE THE LORE IS SO FUCKING GOOD

by the sheer unimaginable skill of the Tarnished.... meanwhile Tarnished continues to get one shotted 17 times lmao that was so funny

Its a bit odd to see a Genshin channel cover Elden Ring lore and really well at that! Good on ya man! (Never played Genshin, im terrified of Gacha games)

"Dormammu I've come to bargin" *killed* "I am millenia, blade of miquella"

Would be great if you look into Mohg or Hewg the smithing guy because of how little the game gives about their background

Malenia: "I've never known defeat." Naked Pot Man: "Allow me to educate you then."

As a boss I didn't love her or hate her, she was cool but there were cooler foes. My favourites were Rykard, the Black Knives and Godskin Apostole. But in terms of lore and meta I think she's brilliant. They pulled a bait and switch and told a great story with Malenia, without spelling out anything. This is the character they used for the marketing campaign, like the poster girl, she was everywhere. In the opening cutscene she's showed standing valiantly against a King Kong sized opponent; in the first area of the game, we learn she destroyed Godrick, the first big opponent for us. She's hailed as undefeated, unrelenting. But then we get to Caelid and the roles for her and Radahn are switched. The opponent she was standing against in the cutscene was a General defending his own land, someone who was fighting while literally holding the stars back with his magic. Malenia was the aggressor. In the fight he disarmes her but waits for her to get back up and fight face to face. What does she do? She uses a dirt bomb and completely ruins Caelid, destroying countless lives and ending the land forever. But Radahn still doesn't die, he keeps holding back the stars. So much for the Blade of Miquella being undefeated. What does Malenia do? She stays in her fortress, doesn't do anything to search for Miquella. She just lays there waiting. And then when the player meets her, something that rarely happens in these games transpires: the player character fights a legendary figure at the peak of their power and wins. Think back to Artorias, Gerhman, Midir, Gwyn, Sihn, Ludwig, Radahn himself, Lorian, Isshin, Owl. All either gone mad, heavily injured, past their prime or all three. Not Malenia: she literally becomes a God during the fight......and the Tarnished still prevails. I don't believe that's random at all. What I think they were going for with Malenia is , don't judge a book by its cover. She LOOKS like an unbeatable hero who overcame impossibile odds, but she was actually an invader and someone who failed with no excuses twice: first against Radahn, and then against the Tarnished, even after literally becoming the Goddess of her element. Her "curse" was actually her weapon, and the only reason she survived in Caelid.

Good work w8tin for more

Cleanrot Knight Finlay is a GOAT for sure